Announcement from Executive Director

July 7, 2021

Dear Residents,

As the state of New Jersey continues to lift Coronavirus restrictions, the Morristown Housing Authority is also updating our protocols.

I would like to remind residents that fully vaccinated individuals may choose to wear or not wear a mask in common area spaces in our facilities, while unvaccinated individuals should continue wearing masks and practice social distancing, according to the CDC.

Going forward, I look forward to being able to host community events and activities again while adhering to the new CDC guidelines. Returning activities include, but are not limited to, NourishNJ (fresh food market in June), The Morris County/Department of Aging, Nutrition Program (hot meals program), Bingo on Fridays, The Mayo Performing Arts Center providing live performances on site. 

Finally, I would like to thank our staff, visitors and our residents for taking the initiative to stop the spread of Coronavirus and for patiently adhering to oftentimes inconvenient restrictions that were put into place as we all attempted to navigate this unprecedented health crisis. Stopping the spread in our immediate community was and still is of utmost importance, which is why daily disinfectant cleaning will continue in all senior building common areas (touch points, elevator buttons, door handles, etc.).  All community rooms have been re-opened for residents. I am incredibly excited to be able to interact with everyone face to face again and I hope we can continue down the path back to normalcy not only at the Morristown Housing Authority, but all over the country.

As you all know, this is an exciting year for us because of the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD).  The RAD program allows public housing agencies to leverage public and private debt and equity in order to re-invest in public housing stock. In turn, this will allow us to secure the funds necessary to begin significant renovations of our properties. New Jersey public housing authorities have already converted 57 public housing developments covering 7,535 housing units under the RAD program, meaning approximately 18,990 people have had their assisted housing secured and preserved for the long-term on the Section 8 platform. Under RAD, the physical condition of these properties will be significantly improved and residents will continue to pay 30% of their income towards the rent while maintaining the same basic rights they possess in the public housing program. We are extremely excited for our residents to experience and the entire community of Morristown to see the major improvements that we have planned for our properties.

Sincerely,

Keith Kinard, Executive Director